Someone Who Outdrew You & Not a Victory March
by hecatehatesthat
Summary: Post213 fic, Orihime viewpoint [pt 1]. She's a strong girl. Strong enough to know inevitability when she sees it. Follows Ichigo & Rukia in pt 2. This was written right after the chapter came out so it's been jossed by now, but we got some things right.
1. Someone Who Outdrew You

Part One of a two-part fic co-authored with Ninx.

_Disclaimer_: I don't own them. This story has been jossed to hell by now anyway.**  
**

**Someone Who Outdrew You**

The night is getting chilly, turning toward morning, but Orihime is sweating when Kuchiki-san's eyelids finally flutter open. For the first time since she began healing Toushirou-kun, Orihime allows herself to relax for a moment. And everything blinks out.

It's a moment, just a moment, that she slips out of consciousness, but a moment is enough to disorient her completely – when she jerks herself back to awareness there are hands on her shoulders, holding her up, and she knows they're Kurosaki-kun's hands.

"Are you all right?" he asks. "Inoue?"

She's not all right. She wants to shake him off and race home and she wants never to move from between his hands but what she does is say, "Mhmm," and sit up. "Just worn out," she adds apologetically, because she knows Kuchiki-san is not fully healed, but she can do no more tonight. He lets go of her shoulders.

Kuchiki-san is leaning up on one elbow and prodding the patched-up wound in her torso through the hole in her robes, and now she says, without looking up, "I had no idea you'd become such a strong healer, Inoue."

"Oh," says Orihime, "I'm – oh, be careful, Kuchiki-san, that's still delicate! I did my best, but…" she glances at Toushirou-kun.

"You've done a lot of work tonight," Rangiku-san says firmly at the same time Kurosaki-kun growls, "She said stop _poking_ at it, Rukia." He's not doing a very good job of keeping the worry out of his voice.

Kuchiki-san glares, then sits up slowly and says, "I guess we won, since you're not dead."

Orihime tries not to flinch, and dares a glance at Kurosaki-kun.

"They won," he says, nodding toward Toushirou-kun and Renji-kun, behind him. "You won. I didn't."

"Don't be a fool," Kuchiki says sharply. "The one who did this to me, the one you fought – his power was completely unlike the others. Neither of us is dead. That's enough."

"That's what I told him," Renji growls, sounding a little petulant, but relieved.

Kurosaki-kun is silent.

Rangiku-san kneels next to Orihime. "We should get you home," she says, rubbing Orihime's good arm. "Captain?"

"I'm coming with you," Toushirou says wearily. "Abarai?"

"I'll go back to Urahara's," he answers. "…In a few minutes." Orihime wonders how much longer he'll be able to keep upright. She'd heal him, too, but…

"Come on," Rangiku says. "Everybody up."

Kuchiki-san is already climbing to her feet, ignoring Kurosaki-kun, who keeps moving as if to help her and then changing his mind. Orihime stands too, leaning on Rangiku.

"Thank you for healing me, Inoue-san," Kuchiki-san says, turning toward her and bowing. Halfway down, Kuchiki wobbles, and suddenly Kurosaki-kun is there, steadying her with white-knuckled hands.

Kuchiki straightens sharply, wrenching hard to break his grip and swinging a fist at the same time. It connects with Kurosaki-kun's jaw, but Kuchiki-san is too weak to recover her balance, and just as she strikes him, she staggers backwards. Orihime cries out, makes a feeble attempt to move, to help, but Rangiku tightens her grip on Orihime's shoulders. Renji drops the sword he's been leaning on and manages to get under Kuchiki before she falls.

"Moron!" Renji-kun barks at the bundle of angry injured shinigami struggling to get up out of his lap.

"What the hell is wrong with you, you idiot!" Kurosaki-kun shouts as he storms over to them. His voice is raw.

"Stop looking at me like that!" she shouts back, managing to get back to her feet with the help of a hand shoved against Renji-kun's face. "I'm fine!" She stumbles a little.

"That's enough!" Toushirou-kun snaps.

"Uh-oh," Rangiku whispers to Orihime, "we're all in for it now." Orihime can hear the smile in her voice.

"None of us is fine," Toushirou says. "But we are all alive and we have information about our enemies that we didn't have a few hours ago. And now we are all going to get some rest so that we can stay alive long enough for that information to do some good. Get out of here, all of you. Kuchiki, let Kurosaki help you home. It'll obviously make him feel better, whether you need it or not." Then he turns and walks away.

Rangiku-san starts to pull Orihime after him, but Orihime shakes her head and grabs Rangiku's hand. "Just a minute," she says softly, and then, louder, "I'm sorry I couldn't heal you completely. Kuchiki-san."

Kuchiki looks startled, then sad. "You did more than enough. I will be fine."

"Yeah," Kurosaki-kun says. "Thanks, Inoue." Orihime manages to smile.

Then Kurosaki-kun turns and crouches with his back in front of Kuchiki-san.

Orihime's smile falls away. Rangiku's hand on her shoulder tightens again.

Finally, Kuchiki-san says, "I do not need that much help."

Kurosaki-kun looks at her over his shoulder. Even from here, Orihime can see something like sadness under the annoyance in his expression. "Rukia…"

"You're barely standing," Renji, back on his feet and leaning on his zanpakutou, growls. "Just let the idiot carry you home and beat him up tomorrow."

"I'm going to kill you both," she mutters, but she steps forward and slides her arms around Kurosaki-kun's neck, lets him hoist her up.

As he begins to walk slowly away, Kuchiki-san on his back, her head already beginning to slump toward his shoulder, Rangiku tugs on Orihime again, and this time Orihime allows herself to be pulled away. She leans into Rangiku-san as they walk, and is nearly home before she needs to wipe her eyes.

_End Part 1_


	2. Not a Victory March

Part Two of a two-part fic co-authored with Ninx.

_Disclaimer_: I don't own them. This story has been jossed to hell by now anyway.

**Not a Victory March**

"I think I can walk now."

Ichigo sighs. "No, you can't, Rukia," he growls. "You couldn't when we left, you can't now." He shifts slightly, tightening his grip on her legs as he adjusts her weight. She squirms, and he squeezes tighter, trying to keep her steady. "Cut that shit out, Rukia," he mutters, not that it matters. She's done this every block so far.

"Just put me down," she says. "I'm sure I can walk now." She leans back and her forearm crushes his neck. "Zangetsu-san is very uncomfortable, and the bones of your hips keep digging into my –"

"LOOK. Rukia. Hitsugaya said to let me help you home. He's your boss. So –"

"Captain Ukitake is my 'boss'," she says, an odd inflection on the last word. "Captain Hitsugaya merely outranks me."

"Yeah, well, you still have to do what he says, right?"

She sniffs. "He only said to let you help so you'd feel better."

"He said it to shut you up. And I don't think Renji was just trying to make _me _feel better, either." His voice is tense.

"Renji," she puts a slight emphasis on the name, "looked like he was about to pass out. You should've carried _him_ home."

"Rukia," he says stubbornly. "Everyone wanted you to take it easy. Inoue said you're still delicate." He knows she can't argue with that.

Rukia does go quiet, but only for a minute. Then, "Why is this taking so long?"

"What?"

"Getting back to your house."

"Because Inoue lives in a different neighborhood."

"I know that," she says, punctuating it by squeezing his neck. "Why are you going so _slow_?"

"Because I'm tired and you're heavy," he snaps, and immediately winces. Way to go, genius. That'll get her to stop –

"So put me down then!"

Doing that. "Shut it, Rukia."

She takes a breath. A big one, a gearing-up-for-a-lecture breath. He doesn't think he can take a lecture right now.

"Just...shut up," he says, voice weary. "I'm not puttin' you down, no matter how much you ask."

That quiets her for another block. Unfortunately, Ichigo realizes, without her bitching in his ear, his thoughts rush in to fill the silence. All he can hear in their whispers are the echoes of his failure.

He knows he failed. If he'd won, Rukia'd be carrying him home. Instead, he has her warm weight on his back reminding him of his inability to protect the people he cares about. He has an itch at the back of his left eye like a tiny scratch, reminding him of his inability to win… and of what he was unwilling to sacrifice for the sake of winning.

First Chad, then Inoue, now Rukia. One by one, he had failed them all.

"Ichigo."

Chad had nearly lost his arm. _Had _lost his arm, and had it back now only because Inoue had spent all her energy for days on healing him. Inoue, who still wore her cast. And Rukia...no matter how much she bitched about being all right, Grimmjow had stuck his hand clean through her, lifted her up, and tossed her to the ground. He can't get the image of her falling, her limp body striking the ground, out of his mind. He can't stop seeing Grimmjow flicking her blood off his hand like something distasteful. There had been a lot of blood. And more than that, it had knocked her out.

He's seen Rukia get knocked around. He's seen bombs set off on her. He has never seen her pass out. It had never occurred to him that she even could.

"ICHI-go."

Sometimes he'd suspected she didn't even sleep. The idea that she could just get knocked out, especially after she'd gotten back her powers – which were apparently far more substantial than he'd ever guessed – was just unthinkable. But it had happened, and he'd seen what happened when he couldn't...

There's a sudden, bright pain in his ears. "GAH!" He rears back, hands coming up automatically to slap at the sharp little fingers pinching him; too late he realizes he's let go of Rukia, and she drops off his back.

He spins to see her sitting on the ground, glaring at her knees. "That didn't work," she says.

"Rukia! Are you..." he stops, catching himself before he touches her. He doesn't need to get punched again. He's left in an awkward position, half-kneeling, half-reaching.

She glares up at him. "I'm fine," she says. "Just surprised." She pushes off the ground and manages to stand for a second, then abruptly crouches. "I'm fine, Ichigo," she says, as if anticipating his response.

He crouches down in front of her. She seems so small now. "Yeah, you look great, Rukia," he says, voice rough. "You can't even stand."

She meets his eyes. "I will," she says. "In a minute."

He looks down. "I'm going to strangle you," he says, voice low.

"Ichi –"

"Why… the hell… won't you just admit," he pauses as the frustration builds in his voice, "that you are not _fine_?"

"Why won't you stop being an idiot about this?"

"Rukia!" He looks up at her. "It was so bad Inoue couldn't completely heal you!"

"Inoue was exhausted," she says, "or didn't you notice."

"RUKIA. You almost DIED!"

Her mouth drops. "I did not," she says, as if he'd just mortally offended her.

"Rukia. You were unconscious. You have no idea whether you were dying." Of course, Inoue didn't actually say anything, so Ichigo doesn't technically know either, but…

In his mind, he sees Grimmjow flicking her blood off his hand again.

"It takes a good deal more than one little hole in the torso to kill a shinigami," she sniffs. "You should know that, you've been impaled enough."

"Rukia, it shouldn't have happened in the first place! I should have stopped him before –" he swallows. "I should have protected you."

"You sh – Ichigo. You idiot."

He just stares at her. She's shaking her head, knuckles braced on the pavement.

"You think this happened because you couldn't protect me? You moron! It's not your job to protect me! It's my job to protect you!"

His brain screeches to a halt. "Rukia...what?"

Her fists clench tighter. "I am back here," she says, "so that _I_ can protect _you_."

"But… I'm stronger than you."

She looks up at him and rolls her eyes. "And stupider," she says. "And inexperienced. I've been a shinigami for decades now, not just a few months."

"That makes no sense," he says. "I'm still stronger than you."

"So what?" she counters. "What good is strength if you have no _sense_? You should've gotten out of there when I told you to!"

"He put a HOLE in you!" he says. "Did you expect me to just run away after that?"

"He was too strong for both of us," she says. "You should've left before you got injured."

"And leave you there?"

"He wasn't interested in me." It comes out grudgingly. "And he was too much for you, wasn't he?"

"Yes," he admits. "If it hadn't been for..." He stops, shakes his head. "That's not the point, Rukia!"

"Then what is the point?" she replies. "That you should rush recklessly into battles you can't win?" She shakes her head. "You can't protect anyone if you're dead, Ichigo." She glances away. "And I did not come here just to watch you die."

"Rukia..."

She points at him fiercely. "Chad, Inoue...they want to fight beside you. I am here to fight beside you. Because we believe in you, but alsobecause you cannot do this alone, Ichigo. You can't."

He closes his eyes for moment. He remembers Chad's arm, shattered. Inoue struggling to stand. Rukia… calling to him. Trying to protect him. Grimmjow flicks her blood again, and grins. Ichigo opens his eyes, and he knows there's more in them than he should let her see, but he has to look at her now, here in front of him, injured but alive.

"Helping me," he says, "has never done _anything _but get everybody hurt!"

"What? Ichigo!"

"It's the truth, Rukia!" he yells. "I'm not going to let Chad, or Inoue, or YOU, sacrifice yourselves for me! Because you believe in a fucking idiot!" He leans forward, knees hitting the ground, and grabs her shoulders. "I failed tonight, Rukia," he says. "Completely. I couldn't protect you, I couldn't win… Is that something to believe in? Is that someone worthy of fighting next to?" His head falls. "I LOST. How can I be..." He shakes his head, unable to finish.

Rukia is quiet for a moment. Then, she puts both hands on his face and lifts his head. He averts his eyes.

"Idiot," she says, "look at me."

Reluctantly, he does.

Her face is composed. "Idiot," she says, "you're ALIVE."

He grimaces. "You all keep saying that," he mumbles.

"Because it's important," she says.

He frowns at her. "Why?"

Her eyes narrow, and she shakes her head slowly. Then, with a gentle tug, she pulls his head closer to hers. He tenses, but she lowers her head, so that his forehead bumps against the crown of her hair.

"Idiot," she says. "Listen to me."

"I have," he says. This close, he can smell the blood on her clothes. The smell lodges in his chest somewhere, knotting itself around the failures he feels with every breath.

"No," she says, "You haven't. No one is sacrificingthemselves for your sorry ass. I did _not _die tonight, and I have no intention of dying. I intend to _fight_. That is my choice to make, not yours."

"But…"

She pulls his hair a little, warningly. "You're listening now, idiot." He shuts his mouth. "You did not defeat Grimmjow tonight, but you didn't lose, because being alive means you can get stronger. My brother left you alive the first time you fought him, because he believed he had won. But, being too stupid to know you could never hope to beat him, you became stronger, and then you defeated him. You will do it again."

He's quiet for the space of a heartbeat. Then, "I can't get stronger without that THING, Rukia." He pulls his hands off her shoulders, and they fall limp into his lap. He'd pull back further, but her hands on his face are like iron.

"That thing?" Her voice shifts. "The Hollow."

He hates hearing her say that.

"Grimmjow... tonight..."

"Ichigo, you can't trust –"

"He said I can't fight without him," he says, quiet voice overriding hers. "He said I couldn't beat him without that power."

"Ichigo," she says sharply. "Grimmjow is the enemy. He'll say whatever he can to throw you off balance!"

His hands clench.

"You can get stronger without that power. Without IT. You can..."

"I CAN'T," he cries. "I couldn't before and I can't now!"

He sags against her, forehead brushing roughly over her hair.

"I didn't beat Byakuya just by getting stronger," he says, voice low. "I beat Byakuya with… that guy. If he hadn't..." He bites off those words, eyes clenching tight. "I couldn't...save you...without him."

Her thumbs skate along the dried blood on his face, wiping it from under his eyes. She takes a breath as if to say something, then doesn't.

"And every time I fight now, he's waiting. If I fight him, people get hurt. If I let him out..." His eyes shut tight. "More people will get hurt. And..."

He doesn't say what they both know: if the Hollow comes out, then that's the end of him, one way or another.

Rukia's thumbs move against his cheekbones. It's not a gesture of comfort; he wishes she wasn't still touching him. He wants to pull away, and shut up, and go home.

Except he can't leave without her.

She lets out a sigh. "Idiot," she says, bumping his head with hers. "You didn't finish the fight with my brother wearing that mask. You finished that fight as you."

She pushes his head away from hers, and meets his eyes. "You're stronger than it, Ichigo. You ARE." She shakes her head, eyes down. "You may not believe it, but I do."

She drops her hands to his shoulders, pushes on them, and stands up. She wobbles for a moment, and as she steadies herself on his neck, his hands find her waist. He pulls them back quickly, abashedly, but her hands stay on his neck a moment longer.

"I can't not believe that," she says, voice soft as if speaking to herself.

His eyes go wide. She steps gingerly around him, and walks off for a few halting steps. After a moment she sneers, "I'm the injured one and yet, you're not moving."

"Need help?" he says as he stands. Then _he _staggers a little, lightheaded.

"No, I do not need help. But it looks like maybe you do."

He scowls, and walks over to her. Slowly. "I don't think so."

"I can do a little healing spell…" she raises a hand, starts doing those motions that accompany the incantations.

"I see the slightest glow of kidou over there and I'm gonna knock you out and carry you home like a sack of potatoes," he says, pushing her wrist down.

"You look like you couldn't knock out a… something very easy to knock out," she says, and slings an arm around his waist. He's not sure whether she thinks she's supporting or leaning on him, and he's not sure he cares.

"'A something very easy to knock out'?" he repeats, gingerly wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"I am too tired to remember human jokes," she says, and takes a step. He follows awkwardly.

"You too tired to remember how to walk?" He halts and yanks her back a step. "Now. Try this again."

They do.

_End_


End file.
